What causes the glow in a lightning bolt?

Question

What causes the glow in a lightning bolt?

Answer 1

When lightning occurs,the temperature reaches a value which is greater than that of the surface of the sun.The heat liberated devastates molecules and particles of the discharged portions of the clouds into a plasma state,which emits bright polychromatic(white) radiation.This appears as the glow of the lightning.

Answer 2

The moving air during a thunderstorm separates the negative and positive charges in a cloud. Once the charges are separated, they move around in the cloud creating additional buildup and discharge of electricity. Often, the positive charges move upward to the top of the cloud while the negative charges try to move downward. The charges find a path of ionized air molecules and follow them toward the ground. This causes a bolt of lightning.

When a lightning bolt moves from the cloud to the ground, the air near the ground starts to glow before the particles closer to the cloud. But, they all start to glow so quickly – it takes about 1/10,0000th of a second – it appears to light up all at the same time.

As more of the charges move around and positive are torn apart from negative the electricity affects the nearby air creating more fragments with electrical charges.

The old adage that lightning never strikes twice in the same place is incorrect. It is very common for lightning to strike again and again in the same location; as long as the same conditions that attract a lightning bolt to hit initially are still in place, it will continue to be a conducive location. Often multiple lightning strikes in one location will occur sequentially in a single charged cloud.